Personal Statement ( Education vs Medical SLP route)

[Einnob]

Hi !!

It is grad app season and I am STRUGGLING. I need all the help I can get! Writing is not my strong suit and it stressed me out to much that there's so many individual prompts/essay questions. Any tips or suggestions when writing your Statement of Intent, Personal Statement?

ALSO I am definitely interested in the education route, should I focus on writing my personal statement tailored for education rather than the medical ?? Or would it be better to be more broad? Am I at a disadvantage if I don't want to pursue medical route? I know a lot of schools are clinical and research focused.

[Cece93]

I wrote my personal statement and letter of intent for my top school and then tweaked  it for each school I was applying to. I’m not sure about focusing on medical or educational. When I applied to programs i guess I focused on school based speech but I also wasn’t applying to programs that were heavily medical. I focused on my love of speech and working with children. You’re not at a disadvantage if you don’t go the medical route. If you know for sure you don’t want to then don’t. If you’re undecided then that’s fine too because we all receive the same foundations and then through clinicals, externships and internships you can receive specialized training and such. Of course some programs are very much geared towards medicine and research but really think about what you want and maybe see if the schools you like have different routes you can take. You can also ask them HOW they would get you ready for the medical field and such. 

[SLPending]

From what I've learned, there's no point changing your hook/intro, past experiences, and current experiences. These should be set in stone. The only part of your statement that differs for each school should be the last paragraph, connecting your experiences/ambitions to the specific school. I hope that eases the anxiety on writing "multiple" letters. (because you really don't!)

When doing your research for schools, look at what concentration the program highlights! If they emphasize Med-SLP training, but you're interested in education, most likely their faculty's researches and clinical preparation may not be ideal for you. Only apply to schools you truly stand with! Your desire to go to their school will make the writing process easier. 

Good luck!